Helena Hemmingsson

Participation in school : School assistants creating opportunities and obstacles for pupils with disabilities

This study addresses how help is provided for pupils with physical disabilities and how school assistants influence their participation in school. Data were collected through field observations and interviews with seven pupils between 7 and 15 years old and with each pupils teacher and assistant. The analysis resulted in a description of features that influenced how help was provided and the consequences in school for the pupil with disabilities. A major finding was that the assistants could both facilitate and hinder participation. We concluded that an awareness of the priority the pupils place on social participation with their peers is needed to ensure effective and flexible support is made available to pupils with disabilities.

Cognitive training in home environment

Primary objective: To examine the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation in the patients home or vocational environment. Research design: Pre–post-follow-up design. Methods and procedures: Ten outpatients with acquired attention and memory problems received cognitive training three times weekly, for 3 weeks. They received individual attention training with Attention Process Training, training for generalization for everyday activities and education in compensatory strategies for self-selected cognitive problems. Treatment effects were evaluated with neuropsychological and occupational therapy instruments before and after the training and after 3 months on impairment, activity and participation levels. Main outcomes and results: The results indicated a positive effect on some measures on impairment level, but no differences on activity or participation levels at follow-up. Conclusions: The study indicates that home-based cognitive training improves some attentional and memory functions and facilitates learning of strategies. Future controlled studies are needed to confirm the results and analyse the efficacy of different aspects of home-based training.

Using electronic aids to daily living after acquired brain injury: A study of the learning process and the usability

Purpose. The purpose was to study the ability of persons with memory impairments after acquired brain injury to learn how to and use electronic aids to daily living (EADL) and to describe changes in function and quality of life. Method. Eight participants stayed in two apartments equipped with a set of basic and advanced EADL for either 4 or 6 months during an intervention time of 2 years. The teaching and learning method was influenced by certain principles of errorless learning. Ability to learn to use EADL was measured by structured observations. Function and quality of life were assessed with self-rating questionnaires. Results. Results indicate that the participants learned to use EADL in their everyday activities. They perceived that EADL were very useful and easy to learn. Occupational performance and satisfaction with occupational performance and quality of life was improved. Conclusion. The results indicate that EADL may play an important role in facilitating everyday activities and improve satisfaction with occupational performance and quality of life for people with memory impairments. The study indicates the importance of adjusting technology to the users needs and calls for more consideration for human – technology interaction factors.

Participation at school as experienced by teenagers with physical disabilities

The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences that teenagers with physical disabilities have of their participation at school. Fourteen students from several locations in Norway aged between 13 and 18 years took part. Data were collected through focus-group interviews and individual interviews. The analysis revealed three main themes: Just like the others—but not quite; Participation in terms of being where things actually happen and; Participation as student–teacher cooperation. A major finding was the importance the students put on being where things actually happen, this being regarded as being even more important than doing the same activities as the other students. Opportunities to increase cooperation by holding short meetings with teachers on how to solve both practical and learning problems promoted participation. The need to include the individuals experience in the concept of participation is discussed.

Parents’ actions, challenges, and needs while enabling participation of children with a physical disability: a scoping review

BackgroundPediatric rehabilitation considers Family-centered service (FCS) as a way to increase participation of children with a physical disability in daily life. An important principal is that parents greatly contribute to their child’s participation at school, at home, and in the community. However, it is unclear what kind of information is available from literature about what parents actually do to support their child’s participation and what problems and needs they experience? Hence, the aim of this study was to provide an overview of the actions, challenges, and needs of parents in enabling participation of their child with a physical disability that is neurological and non-progressive in nature.MethodsScoping review with extensive literature search (September 2011) and a thematic analysis to synthesize findings.ResultsFourteen relevant articles revealed two major themes: ‘parents enable and support performance of meaningful activities’ and ‘parents enable, change and use the environment’. Each theme holds a number of actions (e.g. choosing the right type of meaningful activities for facilitating social contacts) and challenges (e.g. negative attitudes of other people). Less information is available about the needs of parents.ConclusionsThis study indicates that parents apply a broad range of strategies to support participation of their children. They experience many challenges, especially as a result of constraints in the social and physical environments. However, this review also shows that little is known about needs of parents in facilitating participation. As Family-centered service (FCS) philosophy is all about the needs of the child and the family, it is essential to further investigate the needs of the parents and to understand if and to what extent they wish to be supported in enabling their child’s participation in daily life.

School Participation of Pupils with Physical and Psychosocial Limitations: A Comparison:

Several features in the school environment affect pupils with disabilities, serving as either supports or barriers to their school participation. The purpose of this study was to investigate and look for differences in the pupil-environment fit of students with physical and psychosocial limitations, using the School Setting Interview (SSI). The SSI is a client-centred instrument, which focuses on school activities where adjustments need to be made to accommodate pupils with disabilities and to enable their participation. Descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U tests were employed to compare the fit of the two groups and their school environment. The results reveal that, in order to participate actively, both groups of pupils required adjustments to many school settings. Pupils with physical limitations frequently need adjustments, but their needs were met by the schools to a more satisfactory extent than were the needs of pupils with psychosocial limitations. The findings support the usability of the SSI for pupils with various types of limitations. They also stress the importance of eliciting the perspectives of the pupils themselves in order to facilitate the planning and implementation of client-centred occupational therapy interventions in school.

Students with disabilities participating in mainstream schools: policies that promote and limit teacher and therapist cooperation

This paper examines participatory arrangements for students with physical disabilities in mainstream education, cooperation between teachers and therapists to ensure that these arrangements are efficient and the organizational prerequisites for such cooperation. The study comprises data obtained from 14 ‘groups’, with each group consisting of a student with physical disabilities aged 9–19 years, their main teacher and the relevant therapists from the local habilitation centre. Data were collected through semi‐structured interviews, field observations and a review of relevant documents, including legislation. The results reveal a lack of cooperation between teacher and therapist which results in students with disabilities receiving suboptimal participatory arrangements in school. Differences in the perspectives of the teachers and therapists and in the way they act and perceive their responsibilities were anchored in institutional and societal documents and the distribution of resources. The implications for students with disabilities are discussed.

A training apartment with a set of electronic memory aids for patients with cognitive problems

The aims were to investigate whether patients with memory difficulties after acquired brain injury (ABI) are able to learn how to use a set of electronic memory aids integrated in a training apartment, and to use the same setting for identifying activities that these patients tend to forget among a predefined set of activities. This identification is done by using a computer system to register activities that are not performed, which the system is designed to act upon with reminders or alarms. During a stay of five days in the training apartment, 14 patients received training from an experienced occupational therapist to learn how to use the electronic memory aids. Significant improvements were found at group level in learning how to use the electronic memory aids. Computer registrations showed that the refrigerator and the stove were most challenging to remember. The total number of alarms and reminders as indication/measure of memory difficulties did not correlate with the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test scores in the individuals. These findings indicate the importance of a stay in a training apartment to examine whether or not patients have difficulties in everyday activities and to try out electronic memory aids that might support these difficulties before they are discharged from the rehabilitation clinic.

Use of ICT in school:: a comparison between students with and without physical disabilities

The aim of this study was to determine the information and communication technologies use in school activities of two groups of students with physical disabilities, comprised of those who did and those who did not use a computer-based assistive technology device (ATD) and to make a comparison with students from the general population. In addition, positive factors associated with in-school computer use are identified for students with physical disabilities. The method adopted was a cross-sectional survey about computer-based activities in school among students with physical disabilities (n = 287); including those who used (n = 127) and those who did not use (n = 160) a computer-based ATD in school (mean age 13 years 6 months). Group comparisons were made with students from the general population (n = 940). The results showed that the most frequent computer users were students with physical disabilities, who used a computer-based ATD daily. However, when considered as a group, students with physical disabilities used the computer for less varied educational activities than the reference group. Four factors had a positive association to ‘participation in computer activities in school’ for students with physical disabilities: attending a mainstream school, the students’ age (notably, being 16–18 years old), using a computer often in school, and the teachers using a computer frequently in teaching. The present study concludes that, regardless of whether they use a computer-based ATD or not, students with a physical disability have restricted participation in some computer-based educational activities in comparison to students from the general population. An individual plan could be beneficial for each student to: focus on the aim of the computer use; examine the students’ needs in terms of computer-based ATDs and their inclusion in education; and ensure that the students’ digital skills are fully utilised.

Benefits of the use of ICT in school activities by students with motor, speech, visual, and hearing impairment: A literature review

Abstract Objective: Information and communication technology (ICT) has the potential to enhance participation in educational activities for students with physical disabilities. Even though incorporating ICTs into teaching and learning in education has become an important issue, it is unclear what evidence research has provided. The aim of this study was to investigate types of ICT items and how ICT is being used by students with physical disabilities, and describe the benefits of ICT use in school activities. Methods: A systematic literature search, covering the period 2000–May 2012, was performed in the databases AMED, CINAHL, Eric, OTseeker, Psych Info, PubMed, and Scopus. Data analysis entailed extracting, editing, grouping, and abstracting findings. Results: A total of 32 articles were included, 16 of which were intervention studies. More than half of the studies concerned students with motor impairments. Type of ICT used differed among impairment groups, and ICT seemed to be especially beneficial for writing, spelling, and communication. Conclusions: Even though the review found heterogeneity across the studies students seemed to benefit from ICT use regardless of the type. For future research it is important to highlight intervention studies, especially for students with visual, hearing, and communication impairments.